


what fools these mortals be

by DarkrystalSky



Series: to play the fool [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, I can promise an happy ending though, I'm not keeping reins on the angst, oh boy this is a bad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 09:05:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14787563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkrystalSky/pseuds/DarkrystalSky
Summary: On the aftermath of Wonderland, Lucretia struggles with restoring the Bureau and keep her broken family together, Lup deals with the implications of a new job, Taako still can't deal with being a lich.Three parts sequel/epilogue toto play the fool.





	what fools these mortals be

**Author's Note:**

> _Come, let’s away to prison. We two alone will sing like birds_ _i_ _'_ _th_ _' cage. When thou dost ask me_ _blessing_ _, I’ll kneel down and ask of thee forgiveness. So we’ll live, and pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh at gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues talk of court news, and we’ll talk with them too - who loses and who wins, who’s in, who’s out - and take upon ’s the mystery of things as if we were God’s spies. And we’ll wear out in_ _a walled_ _prison packs and sects of great ones that ebb and flow by the moon._  
>  \- William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 5 Scene 3

“Oh! Keetz~” a singsong voice called just as the door slammed open.

Kravitz, sitting on the windowsill, legs covered by a blanket and book in hand, almost jumped to his feet in surprise. A large smile appeared on his lips, _he didn’t expect them to be back so soon._ “I’m over here!” he called out, putting the book aside.

A rush of footsteps up the stairs and his brother appeared on the door, letting a jute sack fall from his shoulder as he threw his arms around Kravitz. His black robe had a weird smell, but Kravitz didn’t let this distract him.

“What are you doing out of bed!” Edward asked just seconds after the hug, but he sounded more surprised than angry.

“I was feeling better today,” Kravitz shrugged. “Where’s Lily?”

A dark shadow passed over Edward’s eyes, something unfamiliar that made Kravitz shiver.

“She’s...still dealing with something.” He smiled and the shadow was gone. “Don’t worry about it.”

Kravitz nodded, trusting him completely. He looked at his brother and the weird black robe he was wearing. “Where have you been?”

Edward grinned. “It’s amazing, Keetz.” He stepped back and opened his arms in a victorious gesture. Where the robe had slid back when he changed position, his arms were riddled with dozens of little burns and cuts. “We found a way to _save_ you!”

Kravitz frowned. He’d heard something like that too many times, too many doctors who offered ‘a new cure’ that in the end did nothing but give the three of them more false hopes. Kravitz had already accepted his fate, he just wished his brother and sister would do the same.

He was about to tell his brother to let it go and just _stay home_ so that he could spend the last months of his life with his family, but the words in his throat were stopped by another sudden coughing fit.

Edward was immediately back at his side, a hand rubbing his back in circles and a Chill Touch pouring a cup of water from a nearby pitcher and bringing it to Kravitz. When he stopped coughing, there were drops of blood on Kravitz’s lips, that Edward dried with a napkin before handing him the glass.

“There’s nothing we can do for your body,” Edward started, quietly, as he drank.

The water had a weird taste, and it took Kravitz a few seconds after he drank it that he was feeling unusually sleepy. He looked up at his brother in confusion.

“But maybe we can get your soul to stay,” Edward finished his sentence.

It was getting harder to stay awake. Kravitz felt Edward’s cold hand on his forehead, as he repeated endlessly the words “We love you, Keetz, we’ll always love you.”

-

It started like this: Kravitz approached Lup, the first night after the Wonderland raid, only when he was sure everyone else on the ship was definitely asleep. He found her by Taako’s bedside, still holding his hand, curled up in some kind of energy puddle on the floor.

“I know,” she said as he appeared at the door frame, slowly letting her brother go as quietly as possible, and rising up to float by Kravitz’s side.

“How did you know of the Raven’s Queen offer?” was his first question once they were both on the deck, under an unfamiliar starry sky.

“I was aware, most of the time, of the events around me,” she laughed, moving in front of him. Despite her spectral features, Kravitz was fully aware of the grin on her face. “Enough to have a front row seat on your _date_ with Koko,” she said playfully.

Kravitz cleared his throat, hiding a little blush by turning around. “Then you know,” he said, recomposing himself, “that my Queen’s offer doesn't yet formally extend to you.”

“I know,” Lup nodded, more seriously, but without losing the light tone in her voice. “I'm gonna negotiate mine and Barry's terms on my own.”

Kravitz opened his mouth to reply, but closed it almost immediately, pinching the bridge of his nose with a small groan. “Ok, no, it's- first of all,” he shook his head. “I can't just _bring you to her,_ and even if I did there's no guarantee she'll listen to you...let's do this step by step, ok? I can discuss an extended period of freedom for-”

“ _Booooring!_ ” She tilted her head. “Seriously, Jack Skellington, you think too much! It'll be fine!”

“My name is not-” he shook his head again, completely flustered. He would’ve never imagined _Taako_ was the more reasonable twin.

“If you can’t bring me directly to her, where can you bring me?” Lup asked before he could finish the sentence.

Kravitz frowned, sighed, and recomposed himself, before reciting. “I’m compelled by my duty towards the Raven Queen and the order of life and death to bring those who defy this order in the Eternal Stockade, where they shall stay until their soul is purged of taint and can join the rest in the Sea of Souls.”

“Gesundheit,” Lup chuckled. “Well, bring me there then, I’ll just break out. I’ve broken out of prison before, just not ghost prison. _This is gonna be a new one-_ ”

“One does not simply escape the Eternal Stockade,” Kravitz groaned, passing a hand over his face. Seriously, were these two _always_ gonna be such an handful?

“ _One_ has never met this girl,” Lup said confidently. So confidently, Kravitz was tempted to believe her.

But he wasn’t taking any risks.

-

Lup didn’t just _leave_ this time. She had realized immediately how bad that would break her family, so there was no note, no _Back Soon_ this time: she gathered her brother and husband and explained the situation before leaving with Kravitz.

They let her go, and promised not to do anything rash. Kravitz also promised to be honest with them and report any progress of the situation.

After the longest and most stressful hour of Taako and Barry’s life, a rift opened on the deck of the Starblaster and Lup stepped out, corporeal once again and wrapped in a cloak of raven feathers. Kravitz followed with the more flabbergasted and confused expression any of them had ever seen him wear.

“So, apparently Bird Mom is _chill as fuck_ and Ghost Rider here was _extremely_ underestimating my charisma modifier,” she laughed, but Taako could feel her hands shaking on his back when she hugged him and didn’t dare ask what’s going on.

-

It continued like this: the Light of Creation was whole once more, fully contained in the Bulwark Staff, and they had a plan, but there were still some things to take care of before the Hunger arrived.

“The attack will start anyway, we need it to descend before flying the Starblaster _on_ it to cast the barrier,” Lucretia brought to their attention. “And it’s likely only inoculated people will be able to see the Hunger itself, while it will be invisible to everyone else.”

“You really fucked up with that one,” Taako commented lightheartedly. Nobody was encouraging him to constantly bug Lucretia recently, but nobody really stopped him, either.  It was pointless anyway, without Lup present, Taako wouldn’t listen to anyone else.

“I’ll return to the Bureau,” was her final statement. “I’ll explain everything and inoculate as many people as possible: it will be this world’s line of defense against the Hunger while we attack directly.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Julia nodded. “Killian seemed to be eager to settle things when we went our separate ways. I can come with you to see if we can calm the waters.”

“Are you sure?” Magnus was the only one to express concern. After Wonderland, it was obvious he was being very protective of her, but everyone knew it was only a matter of time before she called him out on that.

“You can come too, a lot of people saw our...charade,” she smirked. “If Raven’s Roost taught us one thing it is that people _crave_ a good explanation.”

Lucretia’s eyes were teary and grateful when she thanked the two of them. Magnus scanned the rest of the group, silently asking if anyone else was going to help.

“Actually,” Merle cleared his throat, “I was wondering if I could go planetside and try to reconnect a bit with the kids, you know, before…”

“The kids?” Davenport frowned.

“My kids,” Merle deadpanned, awkwardly staring at Davenport like he’d just admitted he used the Bond Engine to grow sentient pumpkins. _Again._

“I’ll stay on the ship, for now,” was Barry’s simple excuse, before any more awkward conversations could ensue. He briefly exchanged a glance with Taako, “we’re still working on a _thing_ and this serves as a base to Kravitz and Lup’s work.”

“What _thing?”_ Lucretia suspiciously narrowed her eyes. When Barry and Taako worked on experiments together it was _never_ a good thing, although it sometimes held good results.

Taako’s cheshire grin was proof enough that she probably should have waited to ask that question.

“Ok,” the elf grinned and straightened up, grabbing something shiny from his pockets.

“Wait, not now-” Barry frantically tried to stop him from the other side of the round table.

Taako raised up his fists, still clenching in one of them what looked like a pinkish crystal not unlike those they’d seen at Candlenights in Lucas’ lab. “I’m going ghost!” he shouted, just as Barry facepalmed with both hands muttering something that sounded like a “for fuck’s sake.”

The crystal lit up and Taako slumped, falling face first into the bowl of soup, under everyone’s astonished - and slightly scared - gaze.

“What the fuck,” Merle was the first to speak, shortly followed by Lucretia’s quiet and emotionless “Why.”

Lucretia didn't really expect an answer but she received a pretty decisive one when she saw Taako's spectral form rise from the crystal in his motionless hand.

“It’s just Magic Jar, a necromancy spell…” Barry explained sheepishly. “I suggested...he’s using it to _get used_ to...uh-”

“He calls it _lich practice,”_ Angus supplied, trying to lift Taako's body from his current position.

“It’s the dumbest fucking idea-” Davenport started, his eyes fixed like everybody else’s on the lich floating over the dinner table.

It was nothing like Barry and Lup's, it wasn't even a skeleton, just a blurry red cloak encasing a shuddering core of black energy that took a good while to settle in a more definite form.

Under everyone's nervous stares, Taako finally dabbed and instantly the atmosphere relaxed.

"Isn't that Lup's signature, though? I'm telling her you're stealing her brand," Magnus chuckled.

There was a moment when everybody held their breath as Taako’s form distinctly jerked towards Magnus and then he raised an arm and with evident difficulty the smoke congealed into a hand just to flip the bird at Magnus.

Magnus barked out a dry laugh, more in relief than hilarity, everyone except Davenport, who stared at the scene frowning. Angus knew instantly what passed through the Captain’s mind. _Why was no one realizing how Definitely Not Good this situation was?_

"Mister Davenport?" Angus called for the gnome sitting beside him, tense as a fiddle.

"Yes?"

"What is this?" Angus said and then, under everyone's shocked gaze he _dabbed._

There was a long shocked silence around the table as almost everyone's eyes were fixed on the young boy. “Oh, no, it’s spreading.” Lucretia deadpanned, prompting another fit of giggles around the table.

Barry's wasn’t laughing, his eyes were fixed on the quadrant of a pocket watch until the moment the second hand finished a full revolution.

There was a brief annoying sound, like an extremely high pitched whistle and then Taako's spectral form vanished, the crystal shattered and with a loud groan the elf opened his eyes.

"Shit," Taako grimaced. "And no, dabbing is definitely not trademarked Lup. That's bullshit." He stood up, not even giving Magnus time to reply he just meant it as a joke.

Taako left the common room, not even bothering to clean up the splashes of soup or finish eating.

"That doesn't look good," Davenport was the first to voice everyone's concern.

"No, but he's getting better," Barry nodded. "He'll get there eventually."

"And _there_ is...?" Julia wondered.

Barry shifted on his chair, getting himself on a more comfortable position and, imitating Taako, projected his soul in a focus and then just above the table. It took him a couple of seconds to stabilize but soon, standing beside his body, but unlike Taako’s, his lich form didn't look less solid than his actual body, if not spookier.

"There...here, basically." Barry's voice  echoed slightly but it sounded pretty much the same as usual. "Uh- yeah."

“Can we like,” Davenport sighed, sounding exhausted, _“stop_ with the out of body experiences at dinner?”

"You have to dab, otherwise the circle of stupidity won't be complete..." Merle chuckled.

"Merle, no..." Davenport sighed.

-

Taako finished washing his face and threw his blouse stained with vegetable and bacon pieces into the cleaning chest. Hands clutching the sink, still tinted pitch black by the necromantic corruption that crawled up to his shoulders like a dark lichtenberg scar, Taako stared at his own reflection in the mirror, feeling like his skin was paper thin, barely containing a storm. His expression was unnaturally blank, if someone saw him now they might think he was some kind of porcelain doll instead of a living being.

There was a reason for his face to be so expressionless, even though he _despised_ seeing himself like this.

Taako _didn’t know_ what he was feeling.

He shut his eyes and there was storm, there was change and he could see shadows chasing each other behind closed eyelids. There was suffering and hope, despair and determination, and he knows one thing and only one for sure.

 _These were not his emotions._ These were not memories of _his_ challenges in Wonderland, of monsters and Trust and Forsake and sacrifice and joy-

He wished Lup was back already, Lup went through the same, she would know what to do, but Lup was away with Kravitz most of the time. Taako knew where she was: it didn’t make her absence more bearable.

 _He_ suggested using Magic Jar, Barry only suggested Taako used it to get more used to his lich form and Taako wishes he never pointed out that damn loophole.

 _Getting out_ was easy and in a way _liberating,_ like releasing water from a dam that was already full of cracks, but once the spell duration had passed, his power started burning again under his skin and itching and _hurting_ and Taako could only make the best out of it and _pretend_ everything was alright.

Rummaging through his pockets he recovered the last two crystals he'd prepared to cast Magic Jar, after those he was out for the day. There was nothing Barry could have said and done to get him to continue the stupid "training", if he didn’t have enough spell slots.

Sitting on a stool and clutching one of the crystals, he prepared to channel the incantation when a knock on the door made him literally jump up on his feet. The crystal rolled out of his hand and under a cabinet. Swearing between his teeth, Taako slammed open the bathroom door, expecting to see Barry but finding himself instead in front of Angus.

"What?" He snapped, more rudely than he meant.

"Is everything alright, sir?"

Taako waved him off, walking out of the cubicle past the kid. "Yeah, sure. Gotta need a change of clothes, though."

To Taako's annoyance, Angus followed him to his room - _their_ room technically, but that was a technicality - and sat on a bed while Taako rummaged through the wardrobe searching for a new shirt that didn't completely clash with the rest of his outfit.

"Captain Davenport said you should probably stop with Magic Jar for a while."

Taako froze, slowly turning around, squinting his eyes in suspicion.

"He didn’t realize how unstable you were and it can't be healthy to leave your body so often."

"No, listen," Taako sighed, fully turning around. "I appreciate your concern, but there's absolutely no need. Taako's got it." He slipped on a magenta blouse that probably belonged to Lup but who cared. “And I’m not _unstable,_ if I was I would be already gone.”

Angus shifted, uncomfortable, avoiding to look at him straight in the eyes. "That’s not reassuring, sir."

Taako felt a pang of guilt at seeing the kid like this. Shit, he was no good at fixing that shit. Where were Magnus and Julia when he needed them?

"Look, kiddo. It's like homework...it's annoying but necessary and it's normal to suck at it first." He sat in front of him, trying to appear as nonchalant as always. The real reason he was doing this, the reason Barry proposed this technique was a grim one.

In the eventuality Taako died against the Hunger, he couldn't allow himself to panic and disappear. He had to be able to keep it together, to keep fighting, to cast spells...all things he couldn’t do at the moment. He couldn’t even focus enough to _speak,_ for fuck’s sake. "So, now I'm trying again and you're gonna evaluate me, alright?"

Angus jolted. "Sir, I really don't think-"

Taako cast the incantation quickly, before the kid could do anything to grab the crystal or stop him.

_He had to get out, get out. Get! Out!_

"It's ok, sir, focus on my voice!" Angus called and it came to him muffled, like the kid was talking to him through a heavy curtain or from underwater. Did something go wrong? No, it was pretty much like other times. His consciousness as dispersed as his body, it took Taako an incredible effort to even give meaning to the sentence the kid kept repeating.

"Say my name."

How? How do you say something with no lips or vocal chords, with no lungs to push the air out.

"Sir, please?"

Taako looked down at the black cloud that started to form around the kid's head. Angus seemed oblivious to it.

_Bad. The cloud was bad._

Taako hissed, trying to disperse it with a hand that was no more solid than the smoke itself. Angus jolted and backed away, the cloud became bigger and started to move in Taako's direction.

_Fear._

Angus was afraid.

Angus, no-self-preservation Ango was _afraid._

Of him.

So much for promises.

The weight of that realization came with the crushing feeling of being confined in his body once again. The overwhelming sensation of blood starting to flow again, of oxygen burning his lungs. He struggled to sit up to realize Ango had seemingly calmed down and the black cloud had completely disappeared.

Did it ever exist in the first place? What black cloud? What had happened? Had a minute really passed so quickly?

"Are you alright, si-"

"You were afraid."

Taken aback for a moment, Angus frowned. "Yes," he finally admitted. "For you, that looked even worse than earlier. Maybe you should really take a break."

"Yeah, that doesn't sound bad,” Taako gave in quickly, _maybe too quickly._ The boy shouldn’t have trusted him.

_Constricting, limitating. He needed to get out._

"Go with the others, I'll catch up with you in a minute."

Angus nodded and jumped down from the bed, giving Taako one last worried glance before walking out of the room.

A minute.

Taako didn't really lie.

A minute was all he had, after all, to _get out_ one last time.

No training, no impossible focusing, just being out and unrestrained and _free_ for one last time until he exhausted his spell slots.

He cast the spell.

And took in the lingering fear that Angus left behind.

**Author's Note:**

>  _I know I said I wouldn't write more of this 'verse_  but what can you do when inspiration strikes?  
> Disclaimer: this fic is absolutely self indulgent angst.


End file.
